Fred that was a good one. I tie my own and trust me, it has not saved me a dime. If you want to tie a bunch of one pattern you can maybe save some money, but once you cross over to the "Dark Side", there is no turning back. By the way mice are easy to tie.

Coming from a spin fishing background myself, after I bought my first flyrod I promptly went out and bought a bunch of small crankbaits, spoons, and spinners with intent of casting them from my flyrod. Psychologically these small lures offered me a security blanket, they were the same types of baits I have become accustomed to in my previous years of fishing.

I'm not going to say they can't be cast, several years ago there were many such lures being produced for the intent of fly fishing. What I found however, is that these small sized lures are not the easiest of options to cast with a fly rod. I have since pretty much ditched the idea, and now choose alternatives that are easier for me to cast. I have since found that its much easier for me to cast the lighter weight fly's, than it is to cast the small sized lures. These lures tend to have more weight behind them, are more difficult to pull up out of the water, and tend to make casting more difficult than it needs to be.

I remember starting out by tying on large flies with the thought that they would be easier to cast. It seems to make sense, particularly for any that ever cast a spin rig it is counter-intuitive to think that "nothing" is easier to cast than something big or heavy.

But once you learn that you are casting your fly line not the fly, it makes perfect sense. It is exactly why you cannot cast small and/or nearly weightless lures (or flies for that matter) with a spinning rod and mono line. It is not the fly, per say, that makes fly fishing uniquely what it is, it is the line and rod that casts it.

For this reason, I cannot imagine why one would want to use a special tool like a fly rod and line to huck and fling a big heavy hunk of plastic and metal around. Why not just stick with your spinning outfit?